Photograph: Randy L. Rasmussen/AP

Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Brendan Watts is seen with blood on his face while surrounded by three police officers in Zuccotti Park, New York.

Makes me think about something Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last year – “We are deeply concerned about the use of violence by Egyptian police and security forces against protesters and we call on the Egyptian government to do everything in its power to restrain the security forces.”

I just so happen to be in Portland at the moment. It seems my visit has proven to be of rather good timing as the building is currently at the center of a local & heated municipal political debate. On my arrival Thursday, the Portland Tribune featured an article Love it or hate it, the Portland Building has a date with history, that mentions the Portland Building’s design could earn it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Before the Portland Building can be nominated to the national register, however, it must overcome a hurdle in criteria, which usually limits the honor to properties that have been around for more than 50 years. The nomination report says the relatively young building should still be considered for the honor because “it is exceptionally important as one of the first physical manifestations of a new architectural style coming on the heels of the Modern movement.” The article places the building in a national level of historical importance when really its level of importance figures at an international level.

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The city should reward the building the title of Historic Place then proceed with a building overhaul. The exterior is looking rather faded, the ground level shops and businesses are nondescript. Much of the architect’s original plans for the building (see above), were vetoed pre-construction by city authorities, most notably the garlands that appear on two of the building’s facades, and the cluster of public arcades and shops on the rooftop. Reincorporating those elements would cement The Portland Building’s position as an international architectural milestone.